The industrial umpire is making progress in repairing the damage it suffered during the Health Services Union scandal says Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross.

Justice Ross used a speech to a Swinburne University function in Melbourne on Wednesday night to again admit that the commission’s handling of the investigation into the Health Services Union and former federal MP Craig Thomson had damaged its reputation.

He said the investigations had taken too long raising “legitimate questions".

“Justice institutions rely ultimately on public confidence and the consent of the governed," he said. “There was an urgent need to repair the reputational damage to the tribunal"

In response he said the commission had moved to be more transparent, accountable and efficient to ensure it retained public confidence.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

He also announced that new time­line targets would be introduced to govern the handling of appeals and judicial review.

Justice Ross said the nature of the commission’s work had also changed substantially so that two-thirds of the cases it heard were brought by individuals and only about one-third were collective disputes. Those figures had reversed in the past 15 years.

In response the commission had introduced measures such as a trial of offering greater access to pro-bono legal advice to individuals lacking expertise in an attempt to ensure their cases were appropriately handled and improve the efficiency of the court.

Asked if he believed the new federal government would abolish the commission he said he believed that was unlikely.

“What we have seen to date is a government that will be intent on implementing the agenda it took to the election and I suspect [won’t go] much further than that," he said.

Justice Ross said he believed the differences between the major parties on workplace relations policies had narrowed compared to where they stood in previous years.

He also outlined a new engagement program that would “shift the focus to prevention of disputes rather than their settlement".

Justice Ross said the commission was working with the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on designing the program and would report to him in October.

“We can assist the industrial parties to find common ground," he said.

“The development of a more co-operative workplace culture that facilitates change and fosters innovation will be at the heart of the commission’s engagement strategy."

The strategy would not offer a panacea to productivity growth but would assist, he said.

“"While the precise causes of our declining productivity growth are the subject of ongoing debate, the real issue is what is to be done about it," he said.

“Over the coming decade productivity will have to do the heavy lifting if Australians are to enjoy rising living standards."

Education and technology advances would also be important, he said.

Justice Ross said industrial disputation had fallen substantially over time and was now associated primarily with the expiry of a collective agreement.

“Measured as working days lost the level of industrial disputation under the Fair Work Act is one tenth of the level of disputation experienced in the late 1980s," he said.